Machine for applying container closures



Nov. 5, 1929. E PENNQCK I 1,734,529

MACHINHFOR'APPLYING CONTAINER CLOSURES Filed se ns, 1924 a Shets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 77zeodorelf7krzrzpck 7413A TTORNEY Nov. 5, 1929. E, PENNQCK 1,734,529

MACHINE FOR APPLYING CONTAINER CLOSURES Filed Sept. 8, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. fzewrcilffi lmcl' BYW 6%4 %z;s ATTOIRNEY 'vention Patented Nov. 5, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THEODORE E. PENNOCK, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO STANDARD AUTO- MATIC MACHINE COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ACORPOBATION OF YORK MACHINE FOR APPLYING CONTAINER CLOSURES Application filed September 8, 1924. Serial No. 736,483.

This invention relates to machines for applying closures to containers and, more particularly, detachable closures such, for example, as screw caps, one object of the inven tion being to provide an improved machine of this variety having a more simple and practical form of construction adapted to operate in a more efficient manner.

A further object is to provide such a ma chine adapted for applying screw closures and comprising improved means for yieldably rotating the closure engaging parts to permit the same to yield when the closure is screwed home, while serving at the same time as a manipulative clutch means for interrupting the rotation of the closure engaging parts at predetermined times.

A further object is to provide such an ap paratus with an improved closure engaging means or chuck comprising a readily detachable chuck jaw assembly having a floating form of support adapting it to accommodate itself to containers of varying shapes and sizes. 1

Still a further object is to provide a simplified apparatus of the above character comprising a single spindle for both rotating the chuck and also actuating its aws to grip and release a closure.

To these and other ends th invention re Figure 2' is an enlarged sectional view on the line 22" in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a similar View but showing the parts in a different operating position;

Figure a is a sectional View on the line 4:-4 in Figure 2;

' Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the chuck housing and jaw carrier with the latter in operating position: 7

Figure 6 is a simi ar view showing the car rier positioned for removal from the housing;

Figure 7 is a sectional view of the chuck housing on the line 7 7 in Figure 2;

' Figure 8 is a sectional view of the chuck jaw assembly on the line 88 in Figure 2; I

I Figure 9 is a top plan view of the machine partly broken away and I Figure 10 is atop plan view of the container table, partly broken away and illustrating the means for holding the containers in position.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

The present invention is in the nature of an improvement upon the apparatus disclosed in my cop'ending application, Serial No. 450,188, filed March 7, 1921, for machines for applying closures to containers. The present improvement relates more especially to the closure applying head which is shown in the present instance as employed in conjunction with a machine of the type comprising a rotary frame and container table provided with a plurality of container holding and closure applying units operating simultaneously during the rotation of theframe and table, as more fully described hereafter, but the invention is otcourse applicable to various other types of machines. a

The embodiment of the invention hereii disclosed by way of illustration of the princi pics involved, represents an application there of tea machine of the type forming the subject matter of my copending application, Serial No. 450,187, filed March 7, 1921, for machines for applying closures to containers, and a brief description of the same will suflice for the purposes of the present disclosure. Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown at 15, Figure 1, a stationary pedestal having a horizontal bed portion 16 and 'a central column 17 which latter supports an adjustable stationary standard 18. Rotating on a bearing on the column 17 is a container table 19 to which is fixed an annular worm wheel 20 for rotating the same, wheel 20 having a bearing on the bed 16 to additionally support the table. Any suitable means may be employed including a worm for cooperation with the worm wheel to rotate the table. Bolted to the table are vertical brackets such as 21 adj ustably bolted at their upper ends to a lower fra he portion 22 retating with the table on the standard 18, The frame portion includes also an uppe portion 23 rotating on the standard and fixed to lower portion 22 by a plurality of pairs of spaced vertical plates 24. The table and upper. and lower frame portions thus rotate as a unit. Fixed on standard 18 between the upper and lower frame portions are stationary 1111153 25, 26 and 2? for operating the closure applying means carried by the frame, and on the standard above the container table is a stationary cam 28 for controlling the container holding means, as hereafter described.

The container table 19 is provided with a plurality of devices for holding the containers thereon while the closures are being applied, the present machine being provided with six such devices spaced around the table. Each of these devices comprises'a container receiving member 29,Figure 10,pivoted on the table at 30 and provided with means for swinging the same pivotally duringthe rotation of the table, as well understood in the art, for transferring containers to and from the table. Member 29 is held in closure applying position against a stop 31 by the engagement therewith of a lever 32 pivoted at 33 on the table and moved to engage and lock member 29 by a spring 34. The other end of lever 32 carries a roller 35 operated by the outer profile of stationary cam 28 during rotation of the table. The container is yieldably clamped against its seat in member 29 by an arm 36 pivoted at 33 on the table and actuated through a resilient connection (not shown) with a lever 37 also pivoted at 33 on the table and actuated to release the container by a spring 38. The other end of the lever carries a roller 39 actuated by the innerrprofile of cam 28 to engage and clamp the container at the proper time as the table rotates. These parts may obviously be adapted to handle containers of any size or shape and serve to automatically clamp the container to the table and to release the same after the closures have been applied, in conjunction with suitable means for feeding containers to and from the table. V I

As already stated, the present machine is provided with six container holding and closure applying units for which purpose the lower and upper frame portions 22 and 23 are formed with circumferentially spaced pairs of aligned bearings 40 and 41, respectively, for the closure applying heads which of course are individually located above the,

corresponding container holding means on the table. The above construction is fully disclosed in my said copending application and a more detailed description of the same is unnecessary for an understanding of the present invention.

The closure applying or capping heads are clearly shown in detail in Figures 2 and 3 as comprising, preferably, a rotary member or sleeve 42 for each head, supported in one of the upper frame bearings 41. This sleeve has on its upper end above the end of the bearing, a planetary gear 43 meshing continuously with a sun gear 44 stationarily fixed on the upper end of standard 18, so that as the machine frame is rotated gears 43 are rotated and rotate the sleeves. Each of the latter has at its lower end below bearing 41 an enlarged portion 45 which, with gear 43, holds the sleeve against axial movement in its bearin Portion 45 is formed at its lower end with a clutch face 46 with which cooperates a. clutch face 4? on a sleeve 48 having an axial, telescopic movement and a bearing in sleeve 42. One or more sheets 49 of any suitable material are interposed between the clutch faces to afford frictional engagement adapted to rotate the inner sleeve by the outer while the clutch faces are engaged, as shown in F igure 3. The clutch faces are normally maintained in engagement by a spring 50, coiled about the inner sleeve and bearing at its lower end against an internal shoulder 51 of the outer sleev The upper end of the spring bears against a threaded adjustable cap 52 on the end of the inner sleeve, a suitable ball bearing 53 being preferably interposed between the spring and cap to reduce wear. Rotational adjustment of the cap on the sleeve serves to vary the tension of the spring to vary the amount of force transmitted between the clutch faces without causing slipping and the cap is locked in adjusted position by a set screw 54. The lower end of sleeve 48 is provided with a circumferentially grooved portion 55 engaged by the end 56, Figure l, of a lever 57 pivoted at 58 bet-ween a pair of the frame plates 24. The other end 59 of the lever cooperates with the stationary cam 25 on standard 18 during rotation of the frame. it is apparent from this construction that by giving to cam 25 a desired profile, lever 57 may be operated to intermittently move inner sleeve 48 of the capping head downwardly against the resistance of spring 50 to separate the clutch faces and thus stop the rotation of the inner sleeve. The latter, as shown in Figure 4, has a noncircular or square bore in which is axially or longitudinally slidable a correspondingly shaped spindle 60 which is thus yieldably rotated when the clutch parts or faces are engaged, but which may be at all times moved or slid l0ngitudinally, for purposes presently to be explained.

The closure engaging means of the capping head comprises preferably a hollow housing 61, Figure 2, having a cylindrical portion 62 rotating and sliding axially in one of the frame bearings 40. In order to raise and lower the chucks to pick up the closures, provision is made for automatically moving the housings 61 ertically in the bearings 40. For

this purpose the cam 27 has cooperating with it a cam roll 69 on a lever 67 pivoted at'68, and having a forked end 66 received in the roove in the top of the housing 61-. This housing is connected with the upper portion of the head, or more specifically theinner rotary sleeve 48, by the spindle 60,the lower end of which slides in a square opening 63 in the closed upper end of the housing 61. R0- tation of the spindle by the means described above thus serves to rotate the chuck housing 62, the spindle however being free to slide longitudinally as stated. Such longitudinal shifting of the spindle is preferably accomplished by a grooved collar 6 1 carried thereby between stop pins 65 and engaged by the end 66 of a lever 67 pivoted at 68 between the vertical frame plates 2%. The other end 69 of the lever cooperates with the stationary cam 26 on the standard to effect shifting of the spindle at the proper times.

Chuck housing 61 has an open lower end and its inner wall adjacent this end is provided with circumferentially spaced projec tions or shelves 70, Figures 2, 5, and 6, extending horizontally inwardly of the housing with inwardly and downwardly tapered inner sides 70*, as shown. At the ends of and above each projection 70 are axially or vertically extending projections or lugs 71 and 72, projection 71 being inwardly and downwardly tapered as shown. These projections form seats on which a unitary chuck assembly is removably positioned.

The chuck assembly preferably comprises a'member or carrier 73 having projections 74 spaced about its periphery with inclined sides 7 4 and shoulders 74* adapted as shown to engage the inclined sides 70 and the top, respectively, of the corresponding housing projections 70 between the lugs at the ends of the latter. Figures 2 and 5 show the carrier positioned in the housing with eachcarrier projection 74 supported on the corresponding housing projection 70 and engaged by an adjacent parallel face of the vertical housing lug 7 2 which serves to rotate the car rier during rotation of the housing. It is apparent that the carrier may be raised or moved axially upward in the housing and any elevation of the carrier in its housing,

as by contact with a container, by reason of j the tapered seat formed by the inclined surfaces 70, allows the carrier to tilt and move laterally, so that, while initially centered it has a yieldable, fully floating form of sup "port in the housing to accommodate variations in the containers. The carrier may also be raised until its pro ections 74 are moved high enough to clear the inclined m jections 71 when the carrier may be rotated to the position shown in Figure 6, thereby clearing its projections from the housing so that it may be lowered and removed from the housing.

The carrier body is formed with sockets 75 in which are radially sliding plungers 76 normally pressed outwardly by springs 77 in the sockets. The outer end of each plunger carries an arcuate jaw 78, there being three such plungers and jaws in the present instance forming substantially a circle and adapted to effectively grip a closure, such as a screw cap, for which purpose the inner surfaces of the jaws may be roughened as shown. The jaws thus have a linear movement advantageously perpendicular to the sides of the caps and are moved inwardly to grip a closure by the contacting lower ends of levers 79, Figure 2, each pivoted intermediate its ends as at 80 between pairs of lugs 81 projecting outwardly from the carrier body between the supporting projections 74 described above. The upper end 82 of each lever engages a substantially bell shaped hollow cam 83 sliding vertically on a post 8 1 rising from the carrier. A spring 85 coiled about the post or, more specifically, about asleeve 86 of the cam sliding on the post, bears at one end against the cam and at the other against the carrier and thus serves to thrust the cam upwardly to swing levers 82 to close jaws 7 8 to grip a closure. The upper end of cam 83 however is adapted to be engaged by the lower end of the spindle and to be thereby depressed to release levers 82 and permit spring 75 to open the chuck jaws. A pin 83' and slot 84* connection between the cam and carrier post limits the upward movement of the cam on the latter.

It is apparent that during the operation of the capping head, the weight of the chuck assembly and spring 85 press the chuck carrier resiliently against its seat and in the housing and thus'yieldably support or retain the chuck in centered position but permit it to yield and float sufliciently to conform to and avoid breakage of containers of irregular sizeor shape. At the same time the chuck assembly may be readily elevated by 3 3 hand against the tension of spring 85 to clear the ends of the seats and then rotated and removed as a unit for inspection, cleaning or repair, or replacement by an interchangeable chuck unit or assembly adapted for a different form of closure, as desirable in a machine of this type.

In operation, containers being supplied to the table 19, sleeve 42 of each capping head is rotated bythe rotation of the frame and serves to rotate inner sleeve 48 and spindle 60 while clutch faces 46 and 17 are engaged. Spindle 60 in turn rotates the chuck which is given an axial positioning movement by the means described at the proper times to pick up a cap from feeding means for example and to move the same toward the container opening. As the chuck approaches a closure feeding means, such as described in my said application for example, spindle 60 ico \ of its parts as it yields or is slid downwardly by the means described to lower cam 83 and thuspermit the chuck jaws to open to engage a closure, after which the spindle is elevated to permit; the cam to rise and force the chuck jaws against the closure. When the latter has been applied to and screwed home on a container, the clutch is adapted to slip and thus permit the rotation of the chuck to stop without injuring the thread of the closure. The chuck jaws are then again opened by depression of spindle and the chuck is raised for another operation. Preferably clutch faces 46 and 47 are separated by lowering the latter to interrupt the rotation of the chuck until the latter approaches or engages the container to avoid injury of the closure by the chuck jaws, for example, while the container is being initially gripped.

Bottles and other containers supposedly of the same size usually vary somewhat in height and diameter or width and in addition the necks of bottles are frequently slightly oii set from the body. Also the threads for securing a cap on the bottle top are frequently somewhat tipped so as to be out of alignment with the body of the bottle. T he present in vention provides a capping head in which the chuck not only yields vertically to accommodate such variations in container heights but also laterally and angularly to accommodate the other variations to be met with. It will be noted, as shown in Figure 3, that after depression of spindle 60 to efiect engagement of a closure or cap, the spindle rises clear or the chuck cam 83 so that as the chuck and closure carried thereby approach a container, the chuck is yieldably centered merely by its weight and is left free to float vertically as well as laterally and to tip angularly. As the closure is movel toward and engages the container top, if it does not accurately register with the latter, the chuck is raised from its seat and permitted to float freely to allow the closure to flexibly meet the threads of the container. An additional advantage of the unitary construction of the chuck assembly lies in the fact that, owing to its unitary construction, there is no relative derangement tloats and its parts are always in proper working relation to each other and the housing and actuating spin- -dle 60.

It is apparent that the invention provides a simple and practical form of construction comprising comparatively few parts adapted to operate reliably and efiiciently to accomplish the desired results, while the chuck proper has an advantageous construction and arrangement of parts atlording a yielding engagement with the container and ready detachability or" the parts to" the purposes described.

' I claim as my invention:

1. A machine for applying closures to con comprising a yieldable clutch, means for actuating said clutch to efiect intermittent rotation of said spindle and device, and actuatin g means for moving said spindle longitudi- .nally to actuate said device to grip and release a closure.

3. A screw capping machine comprising a rotary member, a rotary cap engaging device having an axial positioning movement and provided with relatively movable parts adapted to grip and release a cap, a longitudinally slidable spindle connected with said device and havinga yieldable clutch connection with said member, means for actuating said clutch to intermittently rotate said spindle and device and actuating means for sliding said spindle to actuate said cap gripping parts.

a. A screw capping machine comprising a rotary sleeve, a part in yieldable frictional engagement with said sleeve, means for disengaging said sleeve and part, a rotary housing having an axial positioning movement and provided with relatively movable jaws, a longitudinally slidable spindle connected with said part and housing for intermittently rotating the latter and actuating means for sliding said spindle toractuate said. jaws to grip and release a cap.

5. In a machine for a iplying closures to containers by relative rotary movement of the closure with relation to the container, in combination, leans for supporting the container, and means for applying the closure by rotary movement with relation to the container, including a closure, engaging head having a chuck housing and a unitary chuck assembly removably inserted in said housing comprising a carrier member, aws movable'on said member and actuating means on said member for moving said aws to grip and release a closure.

6. In a machine for applying closures to containers by relative rotary movement of the closure with relation to the container, in combination, means for supporting the container, and scans for applying the closure by rotary movement with relation to the con tainer, including a closure engaging head having a hollow housing open at one end and a unitary chuck assembly removably inserted in the open end of the housing comprising a carrier, jaws movable on said carrier and cam means on said carrier for actuating said jaws to grip and release a closure.

7. In a closure applying machine, a closure engaging head having a hollow housing open at one end, a unitary chuck assembly comprising a carrier, jaws movable on said carrier and means for actuating said jaws to grip and release a closure, and cooperating portions on said housing and carrier for removably seating the latter in the open end of said housing.

8. In a closure applying machine, a closure engaging head having a hollow housing open at one end, a unitary chuck assembly comprising a carrier and relatively movable jaws thereon, cooperating portions on the inner wall of said housing and on said carrier adapted to be engaged by an axial and rotary motion of the latter for removably seating the same in said housing and actuating means for moving said jaws to grip and release a closure.

9. In a closure applying machine, a closure engaging head having a hollow housing open at one end, a unitary chuck assembly comprising a carrier removably seated in the open end of said housing and provided with relatively movable jaws, and resiliently actuated means for controlling the movement of said jaws and affording an axially yieldable support for said assembly.

10. In a closure applying machine, a closure engaging head having a hollow housing open at one end, a unitary chuck assembly comprising a carrier and relatively movable aws thereon, cooperating portions on the inner wall of said housing and on said carrier adapted to be engaged by an axial and rotary motion of the latter for removably seating the same in said housing, a rotary spindle sliding in an opening in the other end of said housing and adapted to rotate the latter and said carrier, actuating means for sliding said spindle, and means actuated by said spindle for moving said jaws to grip and release a closure.

11. In a closure applying machine, a closure engaging head comprising a rotary housing having an axial positioning movement, a carrier removably seated in said housing and provided with relatively movablejaws, cam means for controlling said jaws, a rotary spindle in longitudinal sliding engagement with said housing and adapted to rotate the same and said jaws, and actuating means for sliding said spindle to actuate said cam means.

12. In a closure applying machine, a closure engaging head comprising a housing, a carrier removably seated in said housing, means aflording the carrier a yielding axial movement, jaws movable relatively to one another on said carrier, cam means for controlling said jaws, and spring means for controlling said cam means and resiliently supporting said carrier against axial movement.

18. In a closure applying machine, a closure engaging head comprising a housing, a carrier removably seated in said housing, means affording the carrier a yielding axial movement, jaws movable relatively to one another on said carrier, cam means for controlling said jaws, spring means for controlling said cam means and resiliently supporting said carrier against axial movement, a rotary spindle in longitudinally sliding engagement with said housing and adapted to rotate the same, and actuating means for sliding said spindle to actuate said cam means.

14. In a closure applying machine, a closure engaging head having a hollow housing open at one end, a carrier having relatively movable jaws and peripherally spaced projec: tions, projections spaced about the inner wall of said housing forming seats adapted to have said carrier projections removably located thereon by axial and rotary manipulation of the carrier and means for actuating said jaws to grip a closure and for rotating said housing to rotate said carrier and jaws for applying said closure to a container.

15. In a screw capping machine, a capping head comprising a hollow housing having an open end, a carrier having cap gripping aws and peripherally spaced projections, projections spaced about the inner wall of said housing forming seats adapted to have said carrier projections removably located thereon by axial and rotary manipulation of the carrier and resilient means yieldably retaining said carrier on said seats.

THEODORE E. PENNOCK. 

